'LG Saxena vs medha Patkar case to be heard after May 20'!
One of the longest running defamation cases in the country, the 24-year-old dispute between social activist medha Patkar and delhi Lieutenant governor VK Saxena is once again in the news. The delhi high court on wednesday (April 16) gave clear instructions to the trial court that this case will now be heard only after May 20.
In fact, medha Patkar had filed a defamation case against lg Vinay Kumar Saxena in the year 2000, when he was leading a Gujarat-based NGO 'Council for Civil Liberties'. Patkar alleges that Saxena had published a derogatory advertisement against her and the 'Narmada Bachao Andolan'.
Judicial process or strategy?
On march 18, the trial court rejected Patkar's plea seeking permission to present Nandita Narayan as a new witness. The court categorically stated that the judicial process cannot be held hostage to such tactics. The court also added that the testimony of all the original witnesses in the case pending for 24 years has been completed and now allowing new witnesses to be presented would be an unnecessary delay in justice.
Against this decision, Patkar moved the high court and demanded a stay on the trial court proceedings. Her lawyer said that if the final arguments begin in the trial court, the petition pending in the high court would become futile.
Strict stand of the High Court
The high court, realizing the seriousness of the case, clearly directed that the next hearing of the trial court should be held only after May 20. The same date on which the high court will give its final verdict on Patkar's petition.
Old enmity between the two parties
This case is not just a legal battle, but has become a symbol of the clash of two ideological streams. The battle between medha Patkar, who has been leading the Narmada Bachao Andolan for decades, and V.K. Saxena, who was a social activist then and is now the Lieutenant governor of delhi, has now become linked to the credibility of institutions and the process of justice. Saxena had also filed two defamation cases against Patkar in 2001. In one of these cases, on July 1, 2024, Delhi's Saket court had sentenced medha Patkar to five months' imprisonment.
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